Science Olympiad is a science-oriented academic games program. It is part of the national Science Olympiad, begun in 1983 to increase interest in science. Currently the Olympiad has members in all 50 states, totaling more than 14,000 actively participating schools.

High school teams prepare throughout the school year to compete in tournaments held on local, state and national levels. These competitions consist of 23 individual and team events which measure abilities in various scientific fields. These events change somewhat from year to year. Some events, such as Physics Lab, have been included for many years while others are continued for only a couple of years.

I. Events that are strongly dependent on classroom activities, such as Physics Lab or Chemistry Lab. The best preparation for them is taking the AP classes available at Pioneer.

II. Events that involve other outside study and preparation; this category would include identification events, such as Rocks and Minerals.

III. Engineering events, in which a device is built before the competition and its performance is evaluated at the actual competition.

3. When are the competitions? What has Pioneer's track record been?

There are three competitions in which we usually have been involved. (1) Clio has been sponsoring an invitational competition, usually a Saturday in late January or early February. It is a good practice opportunity, and we would like to go if possible. (2) The regional competition, held at Washtenaw Community College, is about the middle of March. (3) If we place first or second (or even sometimes third, depending on the number of competing teams), we are eligible to participate in the State competition, which is at MSU, usually on the last Saturday in April. First and second-place winners at the state level go on to Nationals. (We came in 5th in Nationals in 1994.)

NOTE: You might want to "pencil in" these dates on your calendar. About March and April, we find students get very busy with things like SATs and Band/Orchestra trips. It's good for you and for the team officers to be aware of any conflicts and to schedule around them if possible. 

Our track record has been mediocre recently. Two years ago, we came 3rd in Regionals; last year we came 5th in Regionals, partly because a lot of seniors had left. Still, we are the largest high school in the state and have a large number of very talented students. So there is no reason why we shouldn't qualify for States this year.

4. How many events should I plan to do?

While there is no limit to the number of members that can be in Science Olympiad, we are restricted in the number of people that can be on the competing team. This number is 15 and can include no more than 7 seniors. Do the math: There are 23 events for 2 people each, so that means there are 46 slots for 15 people to be. This means that each person should be doing an average of 3 events. Because of this, you should try to prepare for 3 or 4 events.

5. How should I go about choosing events?

If you "don't have a clue" where to get started here are some tips:

1. Pick a branch of science that you like (Biology, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering) and find out which events have to do with each discipline. This is especially useful if you are already in a class that is closely related to one or more of the events.

2. Read the event descriptions, which should be posted by the middle of September. There is also a wide variety of information available about the events in the links on the Science Olympiad website.

3. Most of the events are for 2 (or sometimes 3) people. Sometimes it is helpful if you are working with a friend. This would be especially true of engineering events in which preparation is long-term.

6. How are members of the competition team chosen? What about everybody else?

If more than 2 people are interested in an event, we generally have run-offs. We like to have them fairly early (December) if possible, so that the participants know who they are and can prepare adequately. (In practice this does not always happen as early as we intend - but it nevertheless remains our goal.)

Deciding on members of the competition team is always difficult. The team captains and faculty adviser consider run-off results and what people are doing the various events - we want people who can be versatile and contribute to a wide variety of events. We try to have a team that is balanced so that we can be proficient in a larger number of events. In all cases, you can be very sure that the overall welfare of the team is of utmost importance.

If you are not on the competition team, you should not underestimate your value to the team. First of all, alternates or substitutes are often needed. The best-prepared individuals would have the best chance of filling in. More importantly, though, is the value of experience. If you are not on the competition team but still go with the team to the competitions, you have had the important experience of seeing how the events work. You will be much better prepared to participate more actively in the next competition or even coming year. We always hope that people will not become discouraged if they are not initially on the competition team.

7. Where can I find information or get help with my event?

Various sources of information include (depending on the nature of the event):

a. Textbooks and/or other specialty books. We have a limited number of books available in our files. The textbooks from various classes (e.g. Earth Science, AP Biology) are often very useful. Of course, the school library, public library, or libraries affiliated with the U. of M. are also very good sources.

b. We have introduced the position of category leader this year; they should be able to help you with specific events.
Category leaders and their respective events are as follows:

Stephanie Yan: Boomilever, Electric Vehicle, Sound of Music, Wright Stuff

Aparna Ghosh: Disease Detectives, Cell Biology, Herpetology, Health Science, Forensics

Kathy Fang: Ecology, Oceanography, Rocks/Minerals, Write It/Do It.

Richard Shin: Physics Lab, Chemistry Lab, Circuit Lab, Robot Ramble

Our team captains are leading the remaining events as follows:

Shirley Xu: Remote Sensing, Food Science, Experimental Design

Ray Zhang: Astronomy, Fermi Questions,  Five Star Science

c. Web sources. There are links to various starting points on the web that have specific and useful information. You can always do a search on the web if you topic is specific enough.

d. Staff members are usually delighted to help you with your event. You need to ask them and find out good times to work with them.

e. Always feel free to ask questions. Other team members often have lots of valuable tips to help you.

f. Be resourceful. Don't expect the information to come up and introduce itself to you. You might have to ask lots of questions and do some serious investigational work.

8. How can I improve my chances of being on the competition team?

a. As mentioned above, become proficient in at least 3 events. If you are an absolute star in just one event it is still difficult to justify having you on the team.

b. Choose events that are not what everyone else is trying to do. Although some events might not be as glamorous as others, they are equally important in their scoring for overall team success.  Each event is important.

c. Be aware of who else is working on a given event. If the person who did an event last year and won first place at Regionals is still on the team, this person is going to present strong competition in run-offs. On the other hand, it may be a 2-person event and the experienced person might be looking for someone to work with. Check it out.

d. Engineering events have traditionally been our very weakest points. They require a lot of advance preparation. If you have perfected one or two of the engineering events, you will have a much better chance of being on the competition team.

e. Realize that the people who are on the competition team are not necessarily the smartest people in the school, although they certainly can be. Being successful in Science Olympiad is a result of being smart, being interested in a specific set of events, and especially working hard. No one of those requirements will work without the other two. A team captain from a couple of years ago once remarked that anyone who wants to can be on the team. It really seems that is true, as long as you understand the word, "want".

f. Practice, practice, practice.

9. When do we get started?

There's no time like the present. Think about which events seem interesting to you. Read the event descriptions. Find out more about the events in the early part of the school year. This will give you an opportunity to understand some of the events and to practice them with other team members.

10. Do we have any other stuff we do?

Last year we didn't do much other than a pizza party, but hopefully we can do some other things as a team this year. It's your club. We can do as many things as you are interested in doing. Let your captains know what your interests are!

11. What are category leaders?

Category leaders are a position that we are introducing this year. They will help other members study for events in their categories, and plan runoffs for the events in their categories. Although we can use old runoff tests, some of them need to be remade since the events have changed; consequentially, category leaders might have to write their own runoffs. Since they will be in charge of the runoffs, they would automatically be on the final team.

 12. Can I be a captain next year?

 This will depend on yourself. If you want to be captain, show that you have motivation and skill. Try to be a leader, do as many events as possible, and do well in them.

Other questions? Ask team captains Shirley Xu and Ray Zhang, or team sponsor Ms. Vincent.